Marianne Matusz

Profile

I am a socially engaged artist, participatory theatre maker and part-time postgraduate student. For over ten years I have worked with diverse communities across the North of England. I have delivered projects across many settings including mainstream education, PRUs, libraries, refugee centres, frontline mental health services and residential care settings, and on street outreach projects, in addition to traditional theatres.

I use collaborative and embodied approaches to devising new work, making theatre from lived experience, creative writing practice and creative activism strategies. I believe in using theatre as a lens through which we can dare to see ourselves, each other, and the world differently.

Research interests

CARE AND LABOUR IN SOCIALLY ENGAGED ARTS

My research is situated within the field of applied theatre and explores socially engaged arts practices through the lens of feminist care ethics, particularly in relation to UK arts infrastructure and the working practices of artists and facilitators practicing in community settings. While current writing around care and creativity in applied theatre illustrates the social and political impact of these practices, there is little writing on the work of artists and practitioners as a labour of care. Through my research I hope to question and assess the place of labour within the impact-driven economy of applied theatre and socially engaged arts practices.

My interest in the practice and working conditions of artists and practitioners comes out of many years freelancing and leading projects in community settings, and the experiences of ‘getting wound up’ in the joy and frustration of it all. For the past five years I have also led on a creative development programme for artists and creative activists, with national reach, through Collective Encounters. I use this tacit knowledge to inform the direction, scope and delivery of my PhD project.

PARTICIPATORY AND ARTS-BASED METHODS

I am also interested in extending my own embodied knowledge of arts practice into my research activities. My project employs participatory arts-based and DIY methods with an aim to platform practitioner voices from outside academia in narratives around care in applied theatre studies. My project looks to address barriers to knowledge and access to research.

Qualifications

• MA Applied Theatre and Intervention. University of Leeds. (Distinction)
• BA (Hons) English and Theatre Studies. University of Warwick. (First Class)